David Manley
12-11-2011, 08:23
Readers could be forgiven for thinking that it was only the RN and USN that engaged each other during the Napoleonic Wars, so here's something from rather earlier in the period. I've played this out a few times with various rules over the years. Needless to say a good weather model or some scenario specific rules are a must!
"Pellew was aware that his frigate was heavily outclassed by his much larger opponent, and that Amazon, which was 8 nautical miles distant, was not large enough to redress the balance when she did arrive. He correctly assumed, however, that the ocean was too rough to allow Lacrosse to open his lower gunports without the risk that heavy waves would enter them and cause the Droits de l'Homme to founder. In fact the French ship was totally unable to open her lower deck gunports during the action: an unusual design feature had the ports 14 inches (36 cm) lower than was normal and as a result the sea poured in at any attempt to open them, preventing any gunnery at all from the lower deck and halving the ship's firepower. Although this reduced the number of available guns on the French vessel, Lacrosse still held the advantage in terms of size, weight of shot and manpower. The situation was worsened by the loss of the topmasts: this reduced the stability of the French ship, and caused her to roll so severely in the high winds that it was far more difficult to both steer the ship and aim the cannon than on the British vessels.[17]
Battle between the French warship Droits de l'Homme and the frigates HMS Amazon and Indefatigable, 13 & 14 January 1797, Leopold Le Guen
To the surprise of Lacrosse and his officers, Indefatigable did not retreat from the ship of the line, nor did she pass the ship of the line at long-range to leeward as expected. Instead, at 17:30, Pellew closed with the stern of the Droits de l'Homme and raked her. Lacrosse turned to meet the threat and opened fire with the guns on the upper deck accompanied by a heavy volley of musket fire from the soldiers on board. Pellew then attempted to pull ahead of Droits de l'Homme and rake her bow, to which Lacrosse responded by attempting to ram Indefatigable. Neither manoeuvre was successful, as Droits de l'Homme raked the British ship but caused little damage as most of her shot scattered into the ocean.
Indefatigable and Droits de l'Homme manoeuvred around one another, exchanging fire when possible until 18:45, when Amazon arrived. During this exchange, one of Droits de l'Homme's cannon burst, causing heavy casualties on her packed deck. Approaching the larger French ship with all sail spread, Reynolds closed to within pistol shot before raking the Droits de l'Homme. Lacrosse responded to this new threat by manoeuvring to bring both British ships to face the westward side of his ship, avoiding becoming trapped in a crossfire. The battle continued until 19:30, when both Amazon and Indefatigable pulled away from their opponent to make hasty repairs. By 20:30 the frigates had returned to the much slower French ship and began weaving in front of the Droits de l'Homme's bow, repeatedly raking her. Lacrosse's increasingly desperate attempts to ram the British ships were all unsuccessful and what little cannon fire he did manage to deploy was ineffectual, as the rolling of the ship of the line prevented reliable aiming.
By 22:30, the Droits de l'Homme was in severe difficulties, with heavy casualties among her crew and passengers and the loss of her mizzenmast to British fire. Observing the battered state of their opponent, Pellew and Reynolds closed on the stern quarters of the French ship, maintaining a high rate of fire that was sporadically returned by Droits de l'Homme. Having exhausted the 4,000 cannon balls available, Lacrosse was forced to use shells against the frigates. In the high winds, these proved even less effective than solid shot but did drive the frigates to a further distance. With their opponent almost immobilised, the British frigates were able to remain outside her arc of fire, effect repairs when necessary and secure guns that had broken loose in the heavy seas. For the rest of the night the three battered ships remained locked in a close range duel, until suddenly, at 04:20, land was spotted just 2 nautical miles to leeward by Lieutenant George Bell of the Indefatigable.
Pellew immediately turned seawards in an effort to escape the shore and signalled Reynolds to follow suit. Although both ships had suffered severe damage from the battle and weather, they were able to make the turn away from land, Amazon to the north and Indefatigable, at the insistence of its Breton pilot, to the south. Initially it was believed that the land spotted was the island of Ushant, which would have given the ships plenty of sea-room in which to manoeuvre. However at 06:30, with the sky lightening, it became apparent on the Indefatigable that there were breakers to the south and east, indicating that the three ships had drifted during the night into Audierne Bay. On discovering his situation, Pellew determined to bring his ship westwards, attempting to fight his ship out of danger against the wind. Hasty repairs had to be made to the damaged rigging before it was safe to alter course. Due to her northwards turn, Amazon had even less room to manoeuvre than Indefatigable and by 05:00 she had struck upright on a sandbank. Efforts to bring her off failed and at 08:00 Reynolds ordered his men to prepare to abandon the ship.
Droits de l'Homme had been more seriously damaged than the British frigates, and closer to shore at the time land was spotted. As Lacrosse's crew made desperate efforts to turn southwards, the ship's foremast and bowsprit collapsed under the pressure of the wind. With the ship virtually unmanageable, Lacrosse ordered anchors lowered in an attempt to hold the ship in position until repairs could be made. This effort was futile, as all but two anchors had been lost during efforts to hold position in Bantry Bay, and British gunfire had snapped one of the remaining anchor's cables and rendered it useless. The final anchor was deployed, but it failed to restrain the ship and at 07:00, the Droits de l'Homme struck a sandbank close to the town of Plozévet. This broke off the remaining mast and caused the ship to heel over onto her side.
As daylight broke over Audierne Bay, crowds of locals gathered on the beach. The Droits de l'Homme lay on her side directly opposite the town of Plozévet, with large waves breaking over her hull; 2 nautical miles to the north, Amazon stood upright on a sandbar, her crew launching boats in an effort to reach the shore, while Indefatigable was the only ship still afloat, rounding the Penmarck Rocks at the southern edge of the bay at 11:00. On board the Amazon, Reynolds maintained discipline and only six men disobeyed his orders to launch the boats in an orderly fashion and build rafts in which to bring the entire crew safely off. These six stole a launch and attempted to reach the shore alone but were swept away. Their boat was capsized by the waves, and all six drowned. The remaining crew, including those wounded in the previous night's action, were safely brought ashore by 09:00, where they were made prisoners of war by the French authorities.
Droits de l'Homme was irreparably damaged. Each successive wave swept more men into the water and desperate attempts to launch boats failed when the small craft were swept away by the waves and broken in the surf. Rafts were constructed, but several were swamped in attempts to carry a rope to the shore and the men on the raft that remained upright were forced to cut the rope to prevent them from foundering in the heavy seas. Some of the men on this raft reached the beach, the first survivors of the wreck. Subsequent attempts were made by men to swim to shore with ropes, but they were either drowned or driven back to the ship by the force of the sea. With no aid possible from the shore, night fell on 14 January with most of the crew and passengers still aboard. During the night, the waves stove in the stern of the ship, flooding much of the interior. On the morning of 15 January, a small boat carrying nine British prisoners from the Cumberland managed to reach shore, which prompted a mass launching of small rafts from the wreck in hopes of gaining the beach. However the waves increased once more, and not one of these small craft survived the passage.
By the morning of 16 January, hunger and panic had taken over on the wreck, and when a large raft carrying the wounded, two women and six children was launched during a lull in the weather, over 120 unwounded men scrambled to board it. This severely overloaded the craft and within minutes a large wave struck the heavy raft and capsized it, drowning all aboard. By the evening the survivors, without food or fresh water, began to succumb to exposure and at least one officer drowned in a desperate attempt to swim to shore. Through the night, the survivors gathered on the less exposed parts of the hull, and in the hope of staving off death by dehydration, drank sea water, urine, or vinegar from a small barrel that had floated up from the hold. The morning of 17 January finally saw a reduction in the storm and the arrival of a small French naval brig, the Arrogante. This ship could not come too close without risk of grounding but sent her boats to the wreck in the hope of bringing off survivors. The brig was joined later in the day by the cutter Aiguille.
On the Droits de l'Homme, many survivors were too weak to make the dangerous attempt to reach the boats and a number of men fell from the hull and drowned in the attempt. Many more could not find room in the small boats, and only 150 were rescued on 17 January. The following morning, when the boats returned, they found just another 140 survivors, at least as many again having died during the night. The last people to leave the ship were Jean Humbert and Jean-Baptiste Lacrosse. Taken to Brest, the survivors were fed and clothed and given medical treatment. All the surviving prisoners from the Cumberland were returned to Britain, in recognition of their efforts to save lives from the shipwreck.
"Pellew was aware that his frigate was heavily outclassed by his much larger opponent, and that Amazon, which was 8 nautical miles distant, was not large enough to redress the balance when she did arrive. He correctly assumed, however, that the ocean was too rough to allow Lacrosse to open his lower gunports without the risk that heavy waves would enter them and cause the Droits de l'Homme to founder. In fact the French ship was totally unable to open her lower deck gunports during the action: an unusual design feature had the ports 14 inches (36 cm) lower than was normal and as a result the sea poured in at any attempt to open them, preventing any gunnery at all from the lower deck and halving the ship's firepower. Although this reduced the number of available guns on the French vessel, Lacrosse still held the advantage in terms of size, weight of shot and manpower. The situation was worsened by the loss of the topmasts: this reduced the stability of the French ship, and caused her to roll so severely in the high winds that it was far more difficult to both steer the ship and aim the cannon than on the British vessels.[17]
Battle between the French warship Droits de l'Homme and the frigates HMS Amazon and Indefatigable, 13 & 14 January 1797, Leopold Le Guen
To the surprise of Lacrosse and his officers, Indefatigable did not retreat from the ship of the line, nor did she pass the ship of the line at long-range to leeward as expected. Instead, at 17:30, Pellew closed with the stern of the Droits de l'Homme and raked her. Lacrosse turned to meet the threat and opened fire with the guns on the upper deck accompanied by a heavy volley of musket fire from the soldiers on board. Pellew then attempted to pull ahead of Droits de l'Homme and rake her bow, to which Lacrosse responded by attempting to ram Indefatigable. Neither manoeuvre was successful, as Droits de l'Homme raked the British ship but caused little damage as most of her shot scattered into the ocean.
Indefatigable and Droits de l'Homme manoeuvred around one another, exchanging fire when possible until 18:45, when Amazon arrived. During this exchange, one of Droits de l'Homme's cannon burst, causing heavy casualties on her packed deck. Approaching the larger French ship with all sail spread, Reynolds closed to within pistol shot before raking the Droits de l'Homme. Lacrosse responded to this new threat by manoeuvring to bring both British ships to face the westward side of his ship, avoiding becoming trapped in a crossfire. The battle continued until 19:30, when both Amazon and Indefatigable pulled away from their opponent to make hasty repairs. By 20:30 the frigates had returned to the much slower French ship and began weaving in front of the Droits de l'Homme's bow, repeatedly raking her. Lacrosse's increasingly desperate attempts to ram the British ships were all unsuccessful and what little cannon fire he did manage to deploy was ineffectual, as the rolling of the ship of the line prevented reliable aiming.
By 22:30, the Droits de l'Homme was in severe difficulties, with heavy casualties among her crew and passengers and the loss of her mizzenmast to British fire. Observing the battered state of their opponent, Pellew and Reynolds closed on the stern quarters of the French ship, maintaining a high rate of fire that was sporadically returned by Droits de l'Homme. Having exhausted the 4,000 cannon balls available, Lacrosse was forced to use shells against the frigates. In the high winds, these proved even less effective than solid shot but did drive the frigates to a further distance. With their opponent almost immobilised, the British frigates were able to remain outside her arc of fire, effect repairs when necessary and secure guns that had broken loose in the heavy seas. For the rest of the night the three battered ships remained locked in a close range duel, until suddenly, at 04:20, land was spotted just 2 nautical miles to leeward by Lieutenant George Bell of the Indefatigable.
Pellew immediately turned seawards in an effort to escape the shore and signalled Reynolds to follow suit. Although both ships had suffered severe damage from the battle and weather, they were able to make the turn away from land, Amazon to the north and Indefatigable, at the insistence of its Breton pilot, to the south. Initially it was believed that the land spotted was the island of Ushant, which would have given the ships plenty of sea-room in which to manoeuvre. However at 06:30, with the sky lightening, it became apparent on the Indefatigable that there were breakers to the south and east, indicating that the three ships had drifted during the night into Audierne Bay. On discovering his situation, Pellew determined to bring his ship westwards, attempting to fight his ship out of danger against the wind. Hasty repairs had to be made to the damaged rigging before it was safe to alter course. Due to her northwards turn, Amazon had even less room to manoeuvre than Indefatigable and by 05:00 she had struck upright on a sandbank. Efforts to bring her off failed and at 08:00 Reynolds ordered his men to prepare to abandon the ship.
Droits de l'Homme had been more seriously damaged than the British frigates, and closer to shore at the time land was spotted. As Lacrosse's crew made desperate efforts to turn southwards, the ship's foremast and bowsprit collapsed under the pressure of the wind. With the ship virtually unmanageable, Lacrosse ordered anchors lowered in an attempt to hold the ship in position until repairs could be made. This effort was futile, as all but two anchors had been lost during efforts to hold position in Bantry Bay, and British gunfire had snapped one of the remaining anchor's cables and rendered it useless. The final anchor was deployed, but it failed to restrain the ship and at 07:00, the Droits de l'Homme struck a sandbank close to the town of Plozévet. This broke off the remaining mast and caused the ship to heel over onto her side.
As daylight broke over Audierne Bay, crowds of locals gathered on the beach. The Droits de l'Homme lay on her side directly opposite the town of Plozévet, with large waves breaking over her hull; 2 nautical miles to the north, Amazon stood upright on a sandbar, her crew launching boats in an effort to reach the shore, while Indefatigable was the only ship still afloat, rounding the Penmarck Rocks at the southern edge of the bay at 11:00. On board the Amazon, Reynolds maintained discipline and only six men disobeyed his orders to launch the boats in an orderly fashion and build rafts in which to bring the entire crew safely off. These six stole a launch and attempted to reach the shore alone but were swept away. Their boat was capsized by the waves, and all six drowned. The remaining crew, including those wounded in the previous night's action, were safely brought ashore by 09:00, where they were made prisoners of war by the French authorities.
Droits de l'Homme was irreparably damaged. Each successive wave swept more men into the water and desperate attempts to launch boats failed when the small craft were swept away by the waves and broken in the surf. Rafts were constructed, but several were swamped in attempts to carry a rope to the shore and the men on the raft that remained upright were forced to cut the rope to prevent them from foundering in the heavy seas. Some of the men on this raft reached the beach, the first survivors of the wreck. Subsequent attempts were made by men to swim to shore with ropes, but they were either drowned or driven back to the ship by the force of the sea. With no aid possible from the shore, night fell on 14 January with most of the crew and passengers still aboard. During the night, the waves stove in the stern of the ship, flooding much of the interior. On the morning of 15 January, a small boat carrying nine British prisoners from the Cumberland managed to reach shore, which prompted a mass launching of small rafts from the wreck in hopes of gaining the beach. However the waves increased once more, and not one of these small craft survived the passage.
By the morning of 16 January, hunger and panic had taken over on the wreck, and when a large raft carrying the wounded, two women and six children was launched during a lull in the weather, over 120 unwounded men scrambled to board it. This severely overloaded the craft and within minutes a large wave struck the heavy raft and capsized it, drowning all aboard. By the evening the survivors, without food or fresh water, began to succumb to exposure and at least one officer drowned in a desperate attempt to swim to shore. Through the night, the survivors gathered on the less exposed parts of the hull, and in the hope of staving off death by dehydration, drank sea water, urine, or vinegar from a small barrel that had floated up from the hold. The morning of 17 January finally saw a reduction in the storm and the arrival of a small French naval brig, the Arrogante. This ship could not come too close without risk of grounding but sent her boats to the wreck in the hope of bringing off survivors. The brig was joined later in the day by the cutter Aiguille.
On the Droits de l'Homme, many survivors were too weak to make the dangerous attempt to reach the boats and a number of men fell from the hull and drowned in the attempt. Many more could not find room in the small boats, and only 150 were rescued on 17 January. The following morning, when the boats returned, they found just another 140 survivors, at least as many again having died during the night. The last people to leave the ship were Jean Humbert and Jean-Baptiste Lacrosse. Taken to Brest, the survivors were fed and clothed and given medical treatment. All the surviving prisoners from the Cumberland were returned to Britain, in recognition of their efforts to save lives from the shipwreck.